normal.dot template

J

jla

I am using Word 2000 under windows 98SE

I have a copy of my own normal.dot template on a floppy disk, which
contains all my personalised entries, auto correct/auto text/page set
ups etc. It has taken me a very long time to set this up and is
crucial for my work.

I recently did a job on a template sent to me via email. On exit, it
asked me if I wanted to save the changes to the normal.dot template
and stupidly, I clicked yes. My word template is back to an almost
virgin one which is disastrous for me.

I have tried deleting this template (Explorer/application
data/microsoft/templates) and dragging my own saved normal.dot
template from the floppy disk over to replace it, but the virgin one
keeps re-appearing, however many times I delete it.

Also,every time I exit word, it now asks me if I want to save the
changes. It never used to ask me. How can I stop it from asking me?

How can I replace the virgin normal.dot template and replace it with
my own personalised one from the floppy disk?

Do I have to go through the laborious task of making all the
entries/setups all over again? It would take me months!

I would be most grateful for these answers, I have so much work to do
and cannot get on with it.

Many thanks.
 
B

Beth Melton

In Word take a look under Tools/Options/File Locations and note the
path to the User Templates folder. This is where Word will look for
your Normal.dot.

If this isn't the folder you have been using then try replacing the
Normal.dot in the User Templates folder with your backup copy or
modify the path so it points to the folder for your personalized
Normal.dot.

If this doesn't resolve the problem then are you saying you encounter
two files named Normal.dot in the same folder?

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
J

jla

Thank you Beth, I have re-named and copied my personal normal template
to a new folder in My Documents. and I am now able to use my own
template. However, my personal template seems to be 'overlaying' the
one that is there by default.
Is there a way I can totally eradicate the 'virgin' normal.dot
template so that mine is the *only* normal template?

Regards

Julia
 
C

Charles Kenyon

You do _not_ want it in My Documents or any subfolder. Templates belong in a
Templates folder, specifically in the User Templates folder. You do _not_
want to designate My Documents as your User Templates folder.

To see where your User Templates folder is, look under Tools => Options =>
File Locations (tab). Alternatively, with Word closed, if you search your
computer for normal.dot (F3 key) you should find both your normal.dot and
the one created by Word. Select the one created by Word and under the File
menu of the Find dialog, select "Open containing folder." Then move your
template into that folder (overwriting the new normal.dot).

Note that you should _not_ have any text in normal.dot - including headers
or footers or page numbers. Among other things, having text in normal.dot
will mess up your envelopes and labels created using the wizard.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.
 
J

jla

Charles Kenyon said:
You do _not_ want it in My Documents or any subfolder. Templates belong in a
Templates folder, specifically in the User Templates folder. You do _not_
want to designate My Documents as your User Templates folder.
Click to expand...

OK, I have put everything back where it was.
That is, the folder Templates, in the path Windows, Application data,
Microsoft, Templates.
But now I have *two* normal templates in the same foler! One called
Normal and one called Normal jla (which is my personalised template,
the one I saved to a floppy disk and which I copied over to the
template folder. I need to be working from my own template).

I have tried deleting the template Normal which Word keeps creating
for itself ,but it keeps reappearing. When I open Word I see two sets
of icons in the toolbars. Two printers, two autotexts, two page
setups, two binoculars.

Also, when I look in explorer, I see another another temporary normal
template with the ~$ in front of it, kind of greyed over but still
there.

What I need to do is have my own normal template overwrite the one
Word keeps replacing.

I would be so grateful if you could please explain how I can get rid
of the Normal template which Word keeps creating and replace it with
my own personalised one. I have made so many entries in autotext and
autocorrect that it would take me months to put them all back again.
I even re-named my own template by removing the jla after the Normal
but still this did not stop the duplicated icons in the toolbars.

To see where your User Templates folder is, look under Tools => Options =>
File Locations (tab). Alternatively, with Word closed, if you search your
computer for normal.dot (F3 key) you should find both your normal.dot and
the one created by Word. Select the one created by Word and under the File
menu of the Find dialog, select "Open containing folder." Then move your
template into that folder (overwriting the new normal.dot).

Note that you should _not_ have any text in normal.dot - including headers
or footers or page numbers. Among other things, having text in normal.dot
will mess up your envelopes and labels created using the wizard.
Click to expand...

No text, just autocorrect and autotext entries, and the page setup.

If someone could suggest what I have to do to get back to how it was,
I would be most grateful
Thank you
Julia
 
B

Beth Melton

Provided that you did not use My Documents as your User Templates
folder but rather a subfolder *in* the My Documents folder you would
have been fine. :) (Although the MS templates would no longer be
available under File/New.)

In any event, Word looks for a file called Normal.dot if it isn't
found then it will create a new one. In order to replace the built-in
Normal.dot you need to rename your personal template to Normal.dot.

Make sure you have file extensions turned on so you can determine the
exact file name. If you don't then in the Windows Explorer go to
Tools/Folder Options and on the View tab turn off "Hide extensions for
known types".

Then:
- Exit Word
- Rename the Normal.dot to OldNormal.dot
- Rename your file to Normal.dot
- Start Word

If you still see duplicated toolbar items then post back and we will
go from there.

As for the file named ~$Normal.dot: This is a temp file called the
Owner file Word creates when you open a file. It is used for file
locking in a shared environment. It's 'normal' and it should be
automatically deleted when you exit Word.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
J

jla

Thank you Beth, your advice has been of enormous help ! :))

I think the most important advice was to re-name *My* template, I had
already reached this stage numerous times before, but hadnt realised
why Word was creating a new template each time I opened the program.

However, I did still get a duplicated toolbar but I opened
'Tools/customise' and dragged the icons which were duplicated right
back off the toolbar. Was this the right thing to do? I now do only
have one icon in the toolbar rather than two printers, binoculars,
page setups, envelopes and labels etc.

Will the prog be stable? I did receive a warning message about
re-naming the template, that it may become unstable.

For future use, is there a way to save *only* the autotext and
autocorrect entries *within* the Normal.dot template, so that if I get
another crash (or stupidly, erroneously save a template when prompted
as in this current case) that I can just replace my important entries?
The other bits and pieces such as margins and toolbars are not really
much of a problem to set up again.

Many thanks for your invaluable advice

Regards and greetings

Julia
 
B

Beth Melton

Hi Julia,

Glad to hear you have things are back to 'normal'. :)

If you changed the file extension on your custom template then the
'unstable prompt' you encountered is a standard Windows warning
regarding file associations.

For example if you rename a Word document called "sample.doc" to
"sample.old" then you would no longer be able to double-click the file
in the Windows Explorer and start Word as the .doc file extension is
associated with Word. Since .dot is a Word file extension then the
warning can be disregarded.

If removing the duplicate commands on the toolbar stick then I don't
see why removing the duplicate commands would be a problem.

As for your customizations, if you have a lot of AutoText entries then
you may want to consider moving them to a global template rather than
leaving them in your Normal.dot.

A global template is any template placed in your Word Startup folder.
Templates in your Startup folder will load when Word starts and the
AutoText entries will be accessible just as they are in your
Normal.dot but a little more protected.

The location of your Word Startup folder can be found or modified
under Tools/Options/File Locations.

You can copy your AutoText entries using the Organizer found under
Tools/Templates and Add-ins or you can rename your customized
Normal.dot to something other than Normal.dot and place it in the Word
Startup folder.

To easily open it for editing you can add a shortcut to it on your
Work menu. If you aren't familiar with this menu take a look at:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm

As for AutoCorrect entries, unless they are Rich Text entries, such as
those that contain formatting, paragraph marks, tables, etc they are
not stored in your Normal.dot but rather an *.acl file. You can backup
AutoCorrect entries using a utility found in AutoCorrect.dot which can
be downloaded from:
http://mvps.org/word/Downloads/index.htm

The Backup function will create a Word document of your AutoCorrect
entries. Then should you lose them you can use the Restore function to
merge your Backup AutoCorrect entries back into your *.acl file.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
J

jla

Good morning again Beth
I'm so sorry to be a pain,.......(sigh)
but when I opened Word this morning for the first time, the icons are
all duplicated again :-(
so my method of dragging them off the toolbar didnt 'stick' after all.
I see that in the templates folder another temporary ~$normal dot file
has re-appeared.
I have work again tomorrow (Monday) so Im hoping that I will be able
to sort this out once and for all some time today.
I really appreciate your input.
Thanks and regards
Julia



Beth Melton said:
Hi Julia,

Glad to hear you have things are back to 'normal'. :)

If you changed the file extension on your custom template then the
'unstable prompt' you encountered is a standard Windows warning
regarding file associations.

For example if you rename a Word document called "sample.doc" to
"sample.old" then you would no longer be able to double-click the file
in the Windows Explorer and start Word as the .doc file extension is
associated with Word. Since .dot is a Word file extension then the
warning can be disregarded.

If removing the duplicate commands on the toolbar stick then I don't
see why removing the duplicate commands would be a problem.

As for your customizations, if you have a lot of AutoText entries then
you may want to consider moving them to a global template rather than
leaving them in your Normal.dot.

A global template is any template placed in your Word Startup folder.
Templates in your Startup folder will load when Word starts and the
AutoText entries will be accessible just as they are in your
Normal.dot but a little more protected.

The location of your Word Startup folder can be found or modified
under Tools/Options/File Locations.

You can copy your AutoText entries using the Organizer found under
Tools/Templates and Add-ins or you can rename your customized
Normal.dot to something other than Normal.dot and place it in the Word
Startup folder.

To easily open it for editing you can add a shortcut to it on your
Work menu. If you aren't familiar with this menu take a look at:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm
Click to expand...

I think I need to do this! Thank you, I will report back when I've
had a go, although sounds a bit technical for me!
I simply cant afford to lose all my AutoCorrect and AutoText entries,
there is far too much in there at stake.
 
T

TF

Julia

Reboot the computer and don't open any applications. Open Windows Explorer
and go straight to the template folder where normal.dot resides. Delete any
temp files you find including the ~$normal that has been abandoned by Word.

Then you need to go to the Windows Temp file. This should be in the Windows
folder but the location will be found in the Autoexec.bat file. If you open
Autoexec.bat in Notepad, it will have two lines similar to this:

Set TEMP=
SET TMP=

The lines will state the location of the temp file. This ideally should be
c:\windows\temp.

Go to the temp file and make sure that it is empty. Delete any files that
you find lurking there. Reboot the computer again.

When Word is now opened, it will create a temp file in the same folder as
the normal.dot file. This locks the normal.dot so that it cannot be opened
more than once. Close Word and that temp file should disappear.

In the Windows\Temp folder, when you open Word and a document, several temp
files will be created. As you copy/paste and do other edits, even more temp
files will be created. But when you save the document and close Word, all
those temp files should close too.

Is this working correctly on your system? If it is now working correctly,
empty your Wastebasket (recycle bin). Then go to My Computer, and first run
a full ScanDisk. When it has completed, check in Windows Explorer for any
new temp files created by ScanDisk in the root directory: delete them all
and empty the wastebasket again. Now go back to My Computer and run a full
DEFRAG.

End of housekeeping and test: all should now run faster and better.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://www.mvps.org/word/

Good morning again Beth
I'm so sorry to be a pain,.......(sigh)
but when I opened Word this morning for the first time, the icons are
all duplicated again :-(
so my method of dragging them off the toolbar didnt 'stick' after all.
I see that in the templates folder another temporary ~$normal dot file
has re-appeared.
I have work again tomorrow (Monday) so Im hoping that I will be able
to sort this out once and for all some time today.
I really appreciate your input.
Thanks and regards
Julia



Beth Melton said:
Hi Julia,

Glad to hear you have things are back to 'normal'. :)

If you changed the file extension on your custom template then the
'unstable prompt' you encountered is a standard Windows warning
regarding file associations.

For example if you rename a Word document called "sample.doc" to
"sample.old" then you would no longer be able to double-click the file
in the Windows Explorer and start Word as the .doc file extension is
associated with Word. Since .dot is a Word file extension then the
warning can be disregarded.

If removing the duplicate commands on the toolbar stick then I don't
see why removing the duplicate commands would be a problem.

As for your customizations, if you have a lot of AutoText entries then
you may want to consider moving them to a global template rather than
leaving them in your Normal.dot.

A global template is any template placed in your Word Startup folder.
Templates in your Startup folder will load when Word starts and the
AutoText entries will be accessible just as they are in your
Normal.dot but a little more protected.

The location of your Word Startup folder can be found or modified
under Tools/Options/File Locations.

You can copy your AutoText entries using the Organizer found under
Tools/Templates and Add-ins or you can rename your customized
Normal.dot to something other than Normal.dot and place it in the Word
Startup folder.

To easily open it for editing you can add a shortcut to it on your
Work menu. If you aren't familiar with this menu take a look at:
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm
Click to expand...

I think I need to do this! Thank you, I will report back when I've
had a go, although sounds a bit technical for me!
I simply cant afford to lose all my AutoCorrect and AutoText entries,
there is far too much in there at stake.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Terry's advice will help, but I think you need to do some basic reading to
broaden your understanding of Normal.dot and Word's use of temp files. See
these articles:

Normal.dot Template—Explained
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=151

How to change the default settings for Word documents
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeNormalTemplate.htm

“WD: How Word for Windows Uses Temporary Files”
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632

If you do not want to customize Normal.dot itself, then the best solution is
to add customizations to a global template placed in Word's Startup folder.
In order to add toolbar buttons, menu items, etc., to this template, you
must have it open for editing (not just loaded as a global template), and
you must select it under "Save in" in Tools | Customize. I would suggest
that your best approach at this point is to rename Normal.dot (as you have
been doing) and let Word create a new factory-default copy, then start from
scratch adding your customizations to the new Normal.dot and/or a global
add-in as appropriate.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
B

Beth Melton

Hi Julia,

I wondered about this since the behavior occurred prior to Word
actually using your custom Normal.dot. (It wasn't until you renamed
the template to Normal.dot that Word loaded the template and made it
available.)

Did you place your custom template in the Word Startup folder
previously? If so then remove the copy from the Startup folder.

If that isn't the case then start Word using the /a switch and see if
the same behavior occurs. The /a switch will start Word using the
factory defaults and your AutoText will not be available in this mode
so don't panic ;-)

If the toolbars display correctly then start Word without the /a
switch and go to Tools/Templates and Add-ins and see if there are any
global templates in the list. If you find any, de-select them one at a
time, closing the Templates and Add-ins dialog box between each one,
and see if the toolbars appear correctly. If they do then you have
found the culprit.

The global template will be located in either your Word Startup folder
or the Office\Startup folder. You can find the location of the Word
Startup folder under Tools/Options/File Locations and the
Office\Startup folder is located in the Office installation path.

Additionally, the ~$Normal.dot temp file is a normal Word operation -
everyone who uses Word has the same temp file created when they start
Word. The links Suzanne provided should help explain things in further
detail. :)
--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
J

jla

Thank you Beth, Terry, Charles & Suzanne
The normal.dot template is now fine, with one set of icons and all my
autotext and autocorrect entries restored :)
Terry's suggestion fixed the prob, (a friend did it for me) and all is
well again.

In the meantime, I shall be reading up the articles Suzanne has
recommended.

My thanks to you all

(gratefully)

Julia
 
J

jla

Hi Beth, to satisfy your curiosity, I think I created the problem of
the double icons!

I re-located the file path of 'my' copy of the normal.dot template and
then dragged it to the quicklaunch taskbar, so that every time I
launched Word from here, it somehow opened over the top of the
normal.dot template created by Word.

Thank goodness my cousin called in, read all your advice and knew what
he was doing (clearly, I didnt!)
so I am restored and ready for work in the morning. It's taken me
probably two years to set up these entries and they are invaluable to
me. When I upgrade to XP in the near future I shall have my copy of
the normal.dot template *and* the acl file when I have downloaded the
autocorrect prog from the link posted earlier. I think I have some
late night reading to catch up on :-\

I am printing off all your helpful notes for future use and when I get
a couple of spare hours I am going to inwardly digest and make some
'idiot's guidelines' for easy referral.

With my thanks,

(indebtedly)

Julia
 
T

TF

I think we are all indebted to your cousin. <vbg>

Terry

Hi Beth, to satisfy your curiosity, I think I created the problem of
the double icons!

I re-located the file path of 'my' copy of the normal.dot template and
then dragged it to the quicklaunch taskbar, so that every time I
launched Word from here, it somehow opened over the top of the
normal.dot template created by Word.

Thank goodness my cousin called in, read all your advice and knew what
he was doing (clearly, I didnt!)
so I am restored and ready for work in the morning. It's taken me
probably two years to set up these entries and they are invaluable to
me. When I upgrade to XP in the near future I shall have my copy of
the normal.dot template *and* the acl file when I have downloaded the
autocorrect prog from the link posted earlier. I think I have some
late night reading to catch up on :-\

I am printing off all your helpful notes for future use and when I get
a couple of spare hours I am going to inwardly digest and make some
'idiot's guidelines' for easy referral.

With my thanks,

(indebtedly)

Julia
 
B

Beth Melton

Thanks for the follow-up Julia. I'm glad to hear everything this
finally straightened out. :)

I don't think I ever would have thought of you dragging your custom
template to the Quick Launch bar and were using it to start Word.
Although it *does* explain some of the details that had me scratching
my head a couple times. lol

Cheers to your cousin!

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
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